Scientists link immune system to cancer metastases

Scientists from New York University have revealed that they may have found the answer to why cancer spreads to the liver more than any other organ in the body.

This has been one of the most mystifying issues about the disease but the researchers state that the immune system may be the reason behind the attraction following a study conducted on mice.

According to their report published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, dealing with immune suppressive cells in the liver in the early period after a cancer develops could prevent the disease from spreading to the liver.

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Researcher George Miller was one of the scientists involved in the study from the Departments of Surgery and Cell Biology at the New York University School of Medicine.

He said: 'Our work may open a new field of experimental therapeutics as combating the eventual development of liver metastases by targeting immune suppressive cells in the livers in patients with early cancer can have great benefit.'

Liver cancer is a serious condition because of the roles the organ plays, including digesting proteins and fats, as well as removing toxins from the body.

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